The Federal Police announced the results of phase 3 of Operation Carcará, an eradication campaign it ran in the sertão of Pernambuco between 1 April and 15 May 2025.[1] Diario de Pernambuco and Folha de Pernambuco, citing the Federal Police, dated the end of the campaign to 14 May, and Folha PE reported that the results were released on the evening of Monday 19 May.[2]

According to the Federal Police, officers eradicated about 434,000 cannabis plants in that period.[1] The force said officers also destroyed 2,200 kilograms of cannabis ready for consumption.[1] Diario de Pernambuco reported that the plants were in 69 cultivations, six of them in Pernambuco and one in Paraíba.[2] The Federal Police said the crops were found in Salgueiro, Cabrobó, Orocó, Belém do São Francisco, Ibimirim and Serra Talhada, all in Pernambuco, and in Manaíra, in Paraíba.[1] The Federal Police estimated that the 434,000 plants, if harvested, pressed and sold, could have produced 144 tonnes of cannabis.[1]

The force did not say whether anyone was arrested during the 44 days of operations.[1] Police from the Pernambuco Secretariat of Social Defence took part alongside Federal Police, including civil, military, fire and prison officers, with two aircraft, one from the state’s tactical air group and one from the Federal Police operational aviation coordination.[1] Officers worked on land and on the river, using inflatable boats.[1] Diario de Pernambuco reported that the operation was run by the Federal Police station in Salgueiro and that, with it, 144 tonnes of cannabis production were dismantled.[2]

According to Federal Police data cited by g1, 1,372,000 cannabis plants were eradicated in the sertão of Pernambuco in 2024, preventing the production of 475 tonnes.[1] The Federal Police said the growing cycle is watched so that the crop is not dried and sold, and that the repeated eradications have pushed traffickers to import cannabis from Paraguay.[3]